Milla Jovovich on Girl Fights, Being a Mom & "Resident Evil"

August 5, 2009 | Written by Thomas DiChiara

In an exclusive interview, Jovovich, who’s marrying her director fiance Paul W.S. Anderson on Aug. 22 (after a six-year engagement!), takes a break from her hectic schedule to dish on the upcoming ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife,’ her painful run-in with red ants … and the “vicious” girl-on-girl action in “Getaway”.

You seem to be drawn to very physical, very badass roles — why is that?
Well, this movie wasn’t very physical for me per se. I think what really drew me to this role was, on the other hand, the fact that I just really got to be a nice, normal girl for most of the film. I feel like you don’t really get to see that side of me. I thought it would be a good opportunity to show people something different and to do a film where I didn’t have to do a bunch of training and a bunch of stunts and things — kind of go and have fun and be myself. The last two weeks of the film were definitely on the more action side. I think the film is definitely more character-driven than it is stunt- driven and action-driven.

There are some pretty big twists in the movie. Did you see them coming when you first read the script?
No, I didn’t see them coming at all. That’s part of the reason that I was very interested to do it — because for pretty much the first two acts I play this nice, normal girl. I was kind of going, “Wow, I can’t believe they want me for this part. This is great!” Of course, once the movie got into the third act it definitely has a switch and it gets more chasey, with fight sequences and things like that. So I was like, “OK, I guess I get it.” But, at the same time, I don’t get many opportunities to play just me as a normal person, so I’ll take it when I can get it … even if I have to do some action in the end [laughs].

How’d you get so fit for the role, just a few months after having given birth?
To me, I was not in shape at all. I was like 165 at the time [laughs]. I guess I carry it well. But for me definitely I was not in shape. I’m just starting to train for the next ‘Resident Evil,’ which starts filming in September. It’s going to be fun and exciting. I can give people a hint: There will definitely be some clones in it [laughs]. … But a big reason that I did ‘A Perfect Getaway’ was that I was like, “Oh great! The guys get to do all the action. And I can just chill and weigh 165 and spend time on the beach with my baby.” They tried to get me to do some stunts with the canoe, but I was like, “You know what? Leave me alone [laughs]. I didn’t sign on for this to do stunts.” They’re like, “But … but … supposedly you do all your own stunts.” I was like, “I do all my own stunts for ‘Resident Evil.’ I train, I do the whole thing. You hired me the way I am. I’m a new mom. Just deal with it.” It was good for me to just be peaceful and nice. But we had a good girl fight, I think. It was a pretty vicious girl fight. Kiele Sanchez [her opponent/co-star] is a little hardass.

What did you do to pass the time when the cameras weren’t rolling?
Well, we were staying in San Juan in Puerto Rico. It was really nice because I was able to bring my baby, and she was four months old at the time. So pretty much when I wasn’t filming, I was being a mom and taking her to the beach and just having as much mommy-baby time as possible. There was one point when she came to visit me on set when we were in the jungle. I was holding her and I was wearing sandals, and suddenly I start getting these stings on my leg. And I’m like, “What is that?” And before I know it, it’s like everywhere on my feet and legs, and I look down and I’m standing on this red-ant hill [laughs]. So I’m carrying my baby and like hopping around going, “Ahhhhh!” I had all of these angry ant stings all over my legs. It was not fun. You make a movie and you think that wherever the trucks are is movie territory, but I guess when you’re out in the middle of nowhere Mother Nature takes control [laughs]. If you’re filming a movie you’ve got to like watch and look around and be careful because there’s lots of little critters out there.

You just wrapped filming on ‘Stone’ with Robert De Niro and Edward Norton. What was that experience like?
That was a really incredible experience. It was a very small movie, and nobody got paid for it. It was nice to work with big actors when they’re not getting a paycheck and they’re just doing it because they really love the material. We pretty much spent a month in Jackson County Prison, so it was great to have my daughter in these high-security cells [laughs]. The section [of the prison] that we were filming in was closed, but the rest of it was very active. I didn’t actually see any inmates, but you could hear them, especially if you have a girl walking around in a cell block. There’s a lot of windows that you can’t see in, but I guess they can see out, so I got lots of applause for walking around with short shorts on [laughs].

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